Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
Much like the Autauga County Commission, Mayor Bill Gillespie reads a Proclamation during the Mayor’s Report at City Council Tuesday evening signifying that April 14-20 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.
These telecommunicators are the voices on the other end of the 911 calls. The voices behind the phone that keep people calm and provide guidance on what could be someone’s worst day of their life.
“We aren’t just dispatchers, we are the first, first responders behind the scenes of an emergency,” Autauga County telecommunications dispatcher Kaci Stettler said.
In Autauga County alone dispatchers received over 32,000 calls last year with over 50,000 calls for service, Director of Autauga County 911 Becky Neugent confirmed. Calls for service could include calls that are not a “911” emergency, which are generally dispatched from a non-emergency call to dispatchers.
“I think we all know exactly how important this role is. All our first responders, city employees and the ones behind the lines that make up the different components behind the scenes are so crucial,” Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie said.
Stettler not only received the proclamation on behalf of the city dispatchers but also was surprised by Neugent as being the telecommunicator of the year, where Neugent presented the Telecommunicator of the Year Award to Stettler.
“The roughest part for me is the “what if’s” hit you like a ton of bricks and you feel the grief wholeheartedly in this job. But then there’s days where you instruct CPR and you hear the patient start to respond, and you know what you do matters. That’s why I do this job,” Stettler said.
On the consent agenda, the council approved a resolution for the City of Prattville to apply for grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, DOE, and to apply for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, EECBG for electronic vehicle charging stations within Prattville.
Also on the consent agenda, the council passed the resolution to surplus personal property from the Fire Department.
On the regular agenda the council authorized for the purchase of a Newer Combination Sewer Truck and for the purchase of a Ford f-250 Truck for the Prattville public works department
In closing comments all councilors and the Mayor welcomed Councilor Albert Striplin back to council after Striplin’s long term absence due to health reasons and thanked first responders.
